So far we have reviewed several products from Prism+ in the form of the Prism+ Q86 Pro QE smart television and the Prism+ PG400U Pro ultra wide work monitor. Both products offer a number of premium features such as Dolby Vision and Dolby Atmos at a much more affordable price than monitors produced by their competitors.
Now it's the turn for the Prism+ PG320 Ultra which is a monitor produced specifically for gamers. On the Q86 Pro QE review some readers complained that it was only equipped with a 4K 60FPS panel. On the PG320 Ultra, it is also equipped with a 4K 32″ 144Hz panel that supports the high refresh rate code of the current generation of consoles.
Specifications and Design
Prism+ PG320 Ultra
32″ IPS LCD screen, 3840 x 2160 pixels, 16:9, 144Hz
Color Support 16.7 million colors
170% sRGB
HDR600
Contrast Ratio 1000 : 1
Brightness 600 cd/m²
Response Time 1 ms
Adaptive Sync Adaptive Display Support
VESA mount
I/O 2x HDMI 2.1, 1x USB-C
Stereo Speaker Audio
USB None
Webcam No
Price RM 3599
Screen
The 32″ screen is from the IPS LCD family with a resolution of up to 4K. The screen has a traditional 16:9 ratio with a refresh rate of only up to 144Hz. There is support for Adaptive Sync but not official support for NVIDIA GSYNC or AMD FreeSync. The panel can also reach a maximum brightness of 600 cd/m².
On paper this is a solid enough panel for those with access to a PC with a high performance graphics card as well as current generation consoles. Although said to support HDR600, this panel supports the more popular HDR10+ or Dolby Vision standards. A bit awkward because this is officially supported on Prism+ smart televisions in Malaysia.
The monitor comes with three thin bezels and one thick bezel below. The thinness here is according to the standard of a computer monitor not like on a smartphone. Each bezel has a thickness of about 1 cm which does not disturb the computer user. This is normal on all the monitors we've reviewed before so it's not something that can be said negatively.
There's no webcam included and there's a pair of stereo speakers, but Prism+ doesn't specify power consumption either. There's also a 3.5mm audio jack on the back if users want to connect the monitor to a better pair of external speakers. Stereo speakers are included but there is no information on power output.
Users are given a choice of four inputs with 2X HDMI 2.1, 1X DisplayPort 1.4 and 1 USB-C. With two HDMI 2.1 inputs, it can support high-performance gaming computers or consoles that support 120FPS such as the PlayStation 5.
The USB-C connection allows it to recharge the connected device with 65W power. The I/O input selection is excellent for a modern monitor. The only drawback lies in the lack of support for the built-in USB-A connection.
Design and Software
The design of this monitor is the same as the previous Prism+ PG400. What we mean here is the use of a metal tripod-shaped base. This in turn is connected to the neck of the monitor which can move left/right, look up/down and change its height easily. What's missing is the support for rotating the neck to change the orientation from landscape to portrait.
There are holes in the neck to pass power, HDMI, DP and USB-C cables for those who want a neat desk. This hole is big enough to put more than three cables.
The movement of the neck is actually quite satisfactory. In the monitor's office we have our backs to the window. In the morning the sunlight is hot and we will rotate the PG320 slightly to the right to avoid glare. At midday the sun was high in the sky and we could lower the neck of the PG320 again to avoid the glare.
The adjustable height of the monitor is also nice because sometimes we put the iPad at the bottom of the monitor to use as a second monitor via the Sidecar feature on macOS. For those who do frequently change the monitor's height and viewing angle every day, the PG320 offers complete freedom.
we only want to complain about the type of tripod used. It feels less stable compared to the large flat base of the Samsung Smart Monitor M7 and Predator XB1 monitors we've used in the office over the years. This concern is due to the fact that the PG320 weighs 12.27 kilograms which can be categorized as light.
The wider base spreads the weight more evenly and reduces stress on the table surface. This may be the reason why Prism+ offers several monitor stands on their website for users who are less fond of tripod-type sites.
Access to the I/O on the back is a little difficult. We don't know why most monitor manufacturers still refuse to offer I/O on the side to simplify the process of installing HDMI, DP and USB-C cables. Prism+ releases smart TVs that provide access to connectivity ports quite well. As there are two schools of thought regarding access to connection ports on a TV and a PC monitor.
PG320 easily detects input when connection is made to more than one device if auto mode is selected. If not, the user needs to change the input manually every time the computer is turned on. If more than one connection is done simultaneously, the user can select picture-in-picture (PIP) mode. An interesting feature but we feel it is not very interesting on a 32″ screen. This feature from personal experience is only useful if the screen reaches 40″ and above.
In the early stages there was an issue where the PG320 could not detect HDMI input on devices that did not support HDMI 2.1. This happened on our Mac Mini and Macbook Air M1 (via a dongle) which do not support HDMI 2.1. When the connection is made the monitor says it doesn't detect any input.
The only issue we're aware of is on desktop computers and laptops. No issues with PlayStation 5 console, Xbox Series X, Apple TV 4K and Chromecast. Prism+ says they are aware of the issue and have provided a firmware update to the PG320 we reviewed to resolve the issue. We understand that the models sold now have received the latest firmware. If you encounter this issue post purchase, please contact Prism+ for resolution as it is a known issue to them.
So now it's time for us to touch on the PG320 software or more specifically with the OSD menu system used. It takes us back to the dark ages of the Viewsonic monitor OSD we had in early 2002. The OSD on the PG320 is a few generations back with more modern monitors.
There are four physical buttons in total (five if the power button is also counted). One for Menu, two up/down buttons and one button to exit. Press the Menu button to display the OSD. Press the Menu button again to activate the option before using the up/down buttons to change the option. After that press the exit button to go back one level up. This is a slow, user-unfriendly and not very intuitive system.
Quite different from the five-button system on the Acer Predator monitor and the multi-directional buttons on the Samsung monitor. Having to go back to the circa 2002 OSD system on the PG320 gave us PTSD as it should have been replaced with a more modern user friendly system.
Visual Quality
The OSD on the PG320 is a bit retro but its graphics capabilities are comparable to modern gaming monitors. No issues displaying video games at high refresh rates. It passed the HDMI 2.1 test included on the Xbox Series X with no issues supporting 4K 120FPS mode.
We tested the game Fortnite on Series X and Resident Evil 2 on PS5. There is no screen tearing or ghosting that we can see. In 60Hz mode we tested Command and Conquer Tiberium Twilight, Wolfenstein New Order and Hitman 2 and the results were also quite good. The PG320 has no issues displaying visuals at sharp 4K resolution.
when connected to several gaming computers that exist in the our device lab. There are mods for MOBA, FPS, and RPG but honestly we don't see a significant difference between these built-in mods. We're more comfortable doing our own monitor settings then saving them to a given personal profile feature.
The screen color is also satisfactory for a gaming monitor. There is no color banding with vivid color reproduction images. The displayed image also looks bright, and sharp in the majority of situations we tested. Originally not behind the bright sun, the content on the screen can still be seen clearly.
In our opinion this PG320 is satisfactory for a gaming computer and at the same time good enough to be used for watching 4K video content on Netflix, YouTube and Prime Video. The color reproduction on the PG320 is still not up to their standards. But this is not Prism+'s fault because the PG320 is not a monitor that promises accurate color accuracy like an Apple Pro Display XDR that is sold at a price of RM20,000.
Audio
The included speakers shoot down. The performance is not satisfactory because it feels small for the large monitor size. This is a common issue with all gaming monitors we've reviewed . Gamers prefer to use headphones and for this reason they feel that good speakers are not important.
We recommend connection to external speakers if good audio is important to you as the speakers on the PG320 are less than satisfactory. What makes it even more unsatisfactory is that the process of changing the audio volume level is very user-unfriendly via the PG320's built-in OSD. As difficult as it is to change the monitor settings we mentioned above, it's just as difficult to change the audio level. The audio menu is hidden several layers and is not helped by the somewhat confusing software.
Conclusion
The Prism+ PG320 Ultra offers the experience of displaying 4K content at a frame rate of 120FPS. It works well as advertised by Prism+. Praise goes to good color display, sharp images and the ability to display video game content at high settings.
The monitor also has a neck extension that can be adjusted in a variety of satisfying directions. This is especially useful for those who often need to change the position of the screen to get the best viewing angle. The input I/O options offered also meet the needs of modern gamers who want to connect up to FOUR devices simultaneously to the PG320 Ultra.
However we have to say the OSD menu on the PG320 took us back in time to early 2002 when I was still in college and a teenager. The PG320's OSD menu is too retro and not the most user-friendly we've ever used. The lack of USB-A for gaming accessory connection is a little disappointing as it is standard on gaming monitors.
At a price of RM3599 it falls into the premium price category. While admittedly the visuals of the PG320 are very satisfying, the lack of additional features such as the lack of official GSYNC & FreeSync support (which is necessary on a real gaming monitor) and the outdated OSD make it difficult to recommend as there are better/complete options out there.
The Acer Nitro XV282K KV monitor for example has a smaller 28″ screen but comes with better additional features (USB-A & FreeSync Premium). Ace Predator X28 is also cheaper but with official GSYNC support, USB-A and OSD is more user friendly and from a more prominent gaming monitor brand.
Pro
Beautiful, bright and sharp 32″ 4K screen.
An interesting selection of inputs with 2X HDMI 2.1, DP and USB-C connections.
The monitor is easy to adjust its angle, rotation and height.
Cons
There is no official AMD FreeSync and NVIDIA G-Sync support required on gaming monitors.
There is no additional USB-A port like other gaming monitors.
Outdated and user-unfriendly OSD menu.